To help him retire the debt from his 2006 congressional re-election campaign, that is.

Fossella (R-Staten Island/Brooklyn) has sent a letter to donors asking them to make a contribution so he can retire his debt by March 15. Fossella's election committee owes about $209,000, according to Federal Election Commission filings.

"We need to retire all debt by Match 15th so we can begin assembling the resources to win again in 2008," says a letter paid for by the Committee to Re-Elect Vito Fossella, in Alexandria, Va. "And trust me, we need to act quickly because the [Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee] is soon likely to begin spending a million dollars or more on personal attacks and lies in an effort to defeat me."

Wonder what he knows that the rest of us don't? The DCCC barely spent on dime on the Fossella race last year, when the congressman's GOP colleagues were getting washed out to sea by the Democratic blue tide.

"It smacks of desperation to me," said one Islander who got the pitch.

Elsewhere in the letter, Fossella points to recent "tough campaigns" of his during which "left-wing groups and millionaire Democratic activists have spent hundreds of thousands of dollars in attack ads against me."

All the more reason for donors to cut checks now, Fossella says in the letter.

"We can achieve another outstanding victory next year -- and defeat the DCCC's hatchet men and the radical left-wing activists that support them -- if you help me to quickly close the books on 2006, and immediately begin running our strongest and most aggressive campaign ever," the letter also says.

"The committee uses a variety of means to reach out to our supporters," Georgea Kay, the committee's new political director, told us. "It's a testament to Vito's hard work and success that he has several thousand individual contributors to his campaign from Staten Island and Brooklyn alone. They recognize that making an investment in Vito has paid huge dividends in making our community a better place to live."

Not everybody seems to be eager to dip into their wallets this early in the election cycle.

"I did what about three or four other people I know who got the letter did," said one Republican. "I trashed it."